Fence



(No Model.)

J. W. TRINKLE.

FENCE.

No. 370,027. Patented Sept. 18, 1887.

l vitwe emery UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J OHN IV. TRINKLE, OF KENT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO IVILLIAM M.COPELAND, OF MADISON, INDIANA.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,027, datedSeptember 13, 1887.

Application filed April 1'1, 1886. Serial No. 199,207.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN IV. TRINKLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kent, in the county ofJefferson and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fences; and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to farm-fences, and has for its object theprovision of a cheap, simple, and effective structure for this purposewhich shall be easy to set up, firm and durable when erected, butreadily taken down when required.

My invention contemplates the production of aloose rail fence which canbe made ofotherwise worthless railsrails which have had their ends wornoff, or rotted at the end, or splintered and shattered so as to be unfitfor use in the ordinary fence. The fence is set upon the surface of theground without having any planted posts or other parts, and yet is socon structed and the weight so disposed as to render the fence firm andreliable. The body of the fence is swung upon inclined stakes whichmerely rest upon the soil at their lower ends without entering it, andthe said body or main portion of the fence does not rest upon the earthor any foundation and is supported solely by the inclined and crossedstakes. The body or main portion of the fence is formed of side battensor uprights, which are swung to the crossed stakes by wires, which areapplied in a peculiar manner and perform important functionsthereby.Thewirewhichisattached to the side batten on one side is crossed over tothe inclined stake on the opposite side, and the wire which is attachedto the opposite side batten is crossed and attached to the other sidestake. Thus it will be seen that the weight of the fence coming upon thewires and tending to cause the battens to settle toward the soil willhave the effect of tightening or drawing the side battens together,which will lock the rails securely in place. At the same time (Nomodel.)

the gravity of the fence tends to keep it in a true vertical position,owingto the crossing of the wires. The stakes and battens are boundtogether at the point where the stakes cross, or just above this point,by a loop or band of wire, the end of a rail being preferably laid overthe crossed stakes and the wire applied above it. I

Riders or top rails laid diagonally across the fence, resting at one endin the angle made by the stake and a batten on one side and at the otherend in the angle made by the opposite stake and batten at the next panelend,

complete the structure and give it very much increased stability andlateral strength.

The rails forming the body or main portion of the fence lie between thebattens on the side and the crossed stakes and supporting wires at topand bottom, respectively.

The following detailed description will more fully point out the natureof my improvement and the manner in which I proceed to construct and usethe same.

The accompanying drawings illustrate what I consider the best means forcarrying my invention into practice.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of several panels of my fence. Fig. 2 isa vertical section of the same,taken through the panel close to the endthereof.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures where they occur.

A A are the rails of the body or main portion of the fence, which arelaid one above the other at the ends of the panels, alternating with therails of the next panel. These rails may be either sawed fencing orsplit rails or poles, and, as already indicated, I am enabled by thepeculiar way in which my fence is supported to use refuse material forthese and the other rails of the fence, as will be understood from theopening paragraphs of this specification and from the detaileddescription of the supporting means which will follow.

A are inclined rails, whose use will presently appear, and A are thediagonallydisposed riders.

The fence, as already stated, is sustained by two cross-stakes at theend of each panel,

. bound together at a point near the top by means of a wire band orloop, D, encircling all four of the pieces'or parts B, B, G, and O. Thebottom ends of the battens O O are sharpened or reduced, and loopedwires E E are set over or secured to these reduced portions and extendacross to the stake on the opposite side, to which they are secured ortied at a point some distance from the surface of the ground, so as tocause the wires to assume an inclined line or position, as clearly shownin Fig. 2.

As shown in the drawings, the battens are placed on the same transverseline at right angles to the line of the fence, and stake B is on oneside of them and stake B on the other. In disposing the wires E E, I runthem in such manner as that one shall brace and stay the other, not onlylaterally but also longitudinally of the fence. For this purpose Iattach the looped end of wireE to the base of batten G, 'carry it back,as shown in Fig. 2, of batten G, and then bring it forward and secure itto stake B, while the wire E is looped over base of batten 0, passed infront of batten O, and then carried back and secured to stake B, thusgiving not only alateral brace to the battens, but also bracing orholding them longitudinally in the fence. The wires themselves are alsocrossed upon each other in such a way as to bind and brace the fence.

The rails'A are laid upon the wires E E between the battens O G on thesides, and the cross stakes B B on top. They are clamped or tightened intheir place by aid of the inclined rails A, one only of which isemployed upon each panel. ,The inclined rail is run under the point orangle of the crossed stakes at one end, anditsinclined position thuscauses it to press upon the rails A and tighten them, and at its otherend the inclined rail is laid over the crossed stakes, as shown in bothfigures of the drawings, at the opposite end 'of the panel, and at thisend serves the purpose of supporting the loop or band D, preventing itfrom slipping down and loosening its hold upon stakes B B.

The riders A are laid diagonally across the fence from panel to panel,occupying the angle formed by batten C and stake B at one end and theangle formed by batten G and stake B at the other, as seen in theperspective View. These riders serve to lock the panels together andcause a lateral force or strain upon the fence at one panel to exert anopposing force or strain upon the adjacent panel, thereby rendering itall but impossible for the fence to be broken or knocked down by theattacks of stock or by force of ordinary winds.

None of the parts of the fence being let into the ground, the fenceis ofcourse readily portable or movable, and can be taken down or set up withvery little labor ,or lossof time.

The advantagesof my device have been setout in the opening paragraphs ofthis specification and need not be repeated here.

Modifications within the range of my improvement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of or sacrificing the advantages of myinvention. 1 7

If desired, I may nail the rails A to the battens; but I prefer to laythe rails in loosely and bind them in the manner set forth.

If the nature of the soil should require it, in order to keep the fencefrom sinking into it, I may place anchors on or blocks or stones underthe ends of stakes B B; but in ordinary soils this will-be unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention,what I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent A fence consisting of the inclined crossstakes restingupon the ground, the upright battens arranged in pairs, and the railscomposing the body o'f the fencelaidbetween them,- said battens andbody-rails being held above the ground, a loop uniting the battens andcross-stakes at the point where they cross each other, and cords orwires on which the bodyrails are laid, said cords or wires beingfastened to the bottom of the battens, one to each batten, and run inoppositedirections across the space between the battens, and secured tothe cross-stakes on opposite sides, respectively, at about mid-height ofthe fence,whereby'the entire weight of the body of the fence is utilizedto hold the crossstakes from spreading at the bottom and to cause thebattens to be compressed tightly upon the body-rails, substan-

